China's Sichuan to restrict new hydro projects over 2016-2020

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The hydropower-rich province of Sichuan in
southwest China will restrict dam construction in the coming five
years and work to improve electric grid planning in a bid to cut
waste.

In policy proposals published on its website, the provincial
government said it would ban small-scale hydropower development
and severely restrict medium-sized plants over the 2016-2020
period. The powers of local authorities to approve new projects
will also be curbed.

Sichuan had a total of 67.59 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower
capacity by the end of 2015, around a fifth of the national
total, that generated 264 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of
electricity during the year.

The province is a key part of China's west-east power
transmission project which delivers electricity to the east coast
through ultra-high voltage lines, but large volumes are wasted as
a result of insufficient grid capacity and poor planning.

Senior power company executives have accused Sichuan of adopting
a laissez-faire approach to hydropower development, allowing
large numbers of firms to build plants with scant regard for
overall planning.

The vice-president of the central government-owned China Guodian
Corporation, Xie Changjun, last year likened the treatment of
Sichuan's Dadu River to "a piece of meat being chopped and
chopped very badly" and said the performance of his own company's
plants in the area had suffered.

Earlier this year, the neighboring province of Yunnan also
restricted small-scale hydropower plants on the Nu river,
otherwise known as the Salween, which flows into Myanmar.

The move to clear out smaller plants was believed to pave the way
for the construction of several large dams on the river, which
has so far been spared large-scale development.

Yunnan said in its five-year energy plan published on Monday that
it would cooperate with state policies to promote the development
of hydropower on the Nu river, and aimed to raise the province's
total hydro capacity to 70 gigawatts by the end of 2020.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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